Mormon Bishop Average Salaries and Benefits

I recently did a Google search about Mormon bishop salaries and was shocked at how much misinformation and outright lies there are on this topic. It never ceases to amaze me how many people spend their lives trying to destroy the faith of others.

I have worked closely with two bishops, and while growing up my father was a bishop multiple times. So I feel very confident that I can give you a straight answer to this question.

All Mormon bishops serve completely and totally unpaid. They spend approximately 20 to 30 hours per week serving in the church and are never given one penny in return. In fact, Mormon bishops choose to donate 10% of their earnings from their day jobs to charity.

I guess the short answer to this question is if you’re looking to be a Mormon bishop for the financial benefit… I’d probably look elsewhere. Nobody becomes a bishop for the money, because it doesn’t pay. You become a bishop because you devote your life to Christ and are willing to give anything to build up God’s kingdom on the earth.

What Exactly Does a Mormon Bishop Do?

Mormons go to church in their geographical area closest to them. These congregations are called wards and are typically made up of 200-600 people. The leader of a ward is called a bishop.

Nobody applies to become or lobbies to become a bishop. The leader of the stake (collection of 7-10 wards) picks the bishop and simply asks the person if they are willing to serve. The bishop generally serves for 3-6 years.

The bishop is the spiritual leader of the ward. When someone in the ward has committed a serious sin and needs to talk through the problem with someone, they go to the bishop. The bishop also picks people in the congregation to help out in certain ways. Everyone pitches in doing different things so that the church doesn’t have to pay for professional clergy.

The bishop picks someone to play the piano, someone to make sure the building is locked up each night, someone to take care of the kids, lots of people to teach primary classes, to teach the teenagers, etc. Everyone pitches in for free to help everyone else. It’s really a beautiful thing. No one is ever forced to serve. Everyone does it just because they want to help out.

A bishop generally has meetings one night a week with the teenagers, one night per week to meet with his secretary and counselors, one morning meeting with the leaders of different organizations in the ward, spends about 10 hours per week meeting with individuals to give them support, etc.

Do ANY Mormons Get Stipends or Pay In Return for Their Service?

Yes, there are a select few Mormons in the world who are paid for their service in the church. Some general authorities are paid a stipend or modest salary for their work, as are mission presidents.

Gordon B. Hinkley, deceased president of the church, said “I should like to add, parenthetically for your information, that the living allowances given the General Authorities, which are very modest in comparison with executive compensation in industry and the professions, come from this business income and not from the tithing of the people.”

To be clear, the church is an extremely large worldwide organization with millions of members. The church employs thousands of people who build and clean churches, run the church website, work at any one of the church’s four universities, organize funds, etc. These are full-time and part-time employees around the world. HOWEVER, none of these people are paid for their ecclesiastical service. They aren’t paid for being the leader of a congregation, for being a priesthood holder, for teaching sunday school, etc.

Ecclesiastical leaders are those who are assigned (not volunteer and do not apply for a position) to preach the gospel and mentor others in growing closer to God. They are those who exercise priesthood leadership or other stewardship.

Why Do Mormon Bishops Give 10% of their day job income to charity?

All faithful Mormons, including all bishops, give 10% of their total income from their day jobs to charity. Actually, it’s more than that. In addition to the 10%, they also give a generous offering to the poor once a month while fasting.

In the Bible, in the book of Malachi, chapter 3 and verse 8, it says, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”

That verse makes it quite clear what God expects of man–a tithe. There are dozens of mentions of the law of tithing in the Bible, which means that Christians of any denomination should give a tithe of their income to God.

God doesn’t need your money. He created the world. However, he does need a people who are willing to put Him first, and do God’s work on the earth. Paying tithing is an act of faith which I have personally seen improve and increase my connection to God.

Tithing funds are not used to line the pockets of church leaders. Church leaders have spent their entire lives in most cases in service of the church. I have personally known many leaders of the church and have seen their unyielding and relentless schedules for serving in the church.

Tithing funds are used in many ways to build up God’s kingdom. For example, to support missionary work, to build temples and churches around the world, to preserve historic sites, for family history work, etc.

Comments

All I have to say about the tithing law is that to “tithe” or offer a “tenth” of what you have is one of the Mosaic laws given to the people of Israel. After His death and resurrection we were unchained and freed from the many laws of the Old Testament and we are now under the Grace of Christ. We are not bound to give 10% of our income by any law of commandment of Jesus in the New Testament. We are however, commanded to be charitable and told that God loves a “cheerful giver” for this reason I no longer refer to the money I donate to the Church as my tithe (it is often more than 10% anyway) but as my “offering”. Heavenly Father promises to bless what we surrender unto Him! Not a criticism! Loved the article!

Hi Rachel, Thank you for your comment. I’m not sure I see anywhere in the Bible where Christ abolishes the law of tithing. You’re certainly right that there was a major change from the law of Moses, but as you mentioned, not all of the old law was done away. For example, I’m pretty sure “Thou shalt not kill” was still in effect 🙂

But you’re absolutely right. It’s far more important to give from the heart than it is to give to the law.

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About Us – Jim Harmer

I write a photography blog that is read by millions of people, I'm a non-practicing lawyer, and a father of three little kiddos. My faith in Christ is the most important aspect of my life, and this blog is where I share my beliefs. The rest of the time, I'm at the lake fishing or traveling the world taking pictures. I live in Meridian, Idaho where I attend my local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
I started this blog at the encouragement of President Boyd K. Packer who asked members of the church to step up in sharing their beliefs online. It is now read by 11,000 people each month who are beginning to learn about the church.